Is Claressa Shields making a mistake by fighting Vanessa Lepage-Joanisse? Female MMA legend Cris Cyborg seems to think so! Shields, having defeated Kelsey DeSantis via a split decision in the PFL vs. Bellator event in February, is geared to face Canada’s Lepage-Joanisse on 27 July at Little Caesars Arena, Detroit. However, it’s a new challenge for ‘T-Rex’!

Instead of her old weight class, middleweight, where she is the undisputed champion, the ‘GWOAT’ is vying for the WBA interim light heavyweight, vacant WBO light heavyweight title, and her opponent’s WBC heavyweight title. This puts a huge gap between her and her foe Cris Cyborg’s weight class, thereby further hindering the chance of them ever fighting. Cyborg, therefore, thinks it’s a step in the wrong direction, something she explained on X today! 

What is the step in the right direction then, per Cris Cyborg?

Believe it or not, Cyborg and Shields used to be great friends, but as Shields has claimed, their friendship suddenly turned into beef. Previously, the two-time undisputed champion even suggested that Cyborg refused to participate in a boxing match between them, in spite of a highly lucrative deal. Besides, the two fighters have gone back and forth on social media, while the tension reached a boiling point during a heated confrontation at the recent Super Bowl Radio Show. 

So, when talkSport editor Michael Benson revealed Shields’ next fight on X, Cyborg was quick to point out the problem in Shields’ current path. In response to Benson’s tweet, Cyborg wrote, “She’s going the wrong way in weight. All the fights people care about are at 147…” However, Shields, who has won belts in three divisions, will become a four-division champion if she beats Lepage-Joanisse in July. 

Joanisse, on the other hand, enters the ring fresh from a hard-fought split decision victory over Abril Argentina Vidal, securing her WBC heavyweight championship in March this year. What’s intriguing is that despite winning the WBC heavyweight title, Joanisse and Abril Argentina Vidal fought at light heavyweight. Thus, her fight with Shields will also be at 175 lbs.

This means that Shields will be jumping not one, but two weight classes going from middleweight to heavyweight. A future fight between Shields and Cris Cyborg therefore looks all the more bleak. Hence the tweet from the former UFC champion. However, this isn’t the first time Cris Cyborg has publicly commented on one of Shields’ fights.

Claressa Shields threatens lawsuit!

In the lead-up to the MMA fight against DeSantis in February, Cyborg hopped on X to write, “Just heard Claressa Shields had to move her fight… because she can’t make the weight limit of 155 lbs”. Cyborg even took shots at Shields’ physique, claiming she needs to hire a nutritionist to make weight for her fights.

This, of course, didn’t sit well with Shields, so she quickly responded to Cyborg with an extremely harsh response on the platform. Shields wrote back, “I know if @criscyborg you don’t want to get sued you better stop lying, Goofy a** bum. I didn’t miss weight you clown ssa b%>€ the fight was at a catch weight 165 & I weighed in at 164.4 lower than my opponent”.

Having said that, as Claressa Shields prepares for her return to the boxing ring, Cris Cyborg is trying to continue their beef on social media. However, the GWOAT of boxing hadn’t responded to Cyborg’s tweet as of the time of writing. However, confident of her victory in July, she said after the fight announcement, “This is a significant and unique fight where I am moving up two weight classes against a very tough champion in my quest to become world champion in my fourth weight division.” What about you? Do you think this fight is a mistake?